Posted on 09/26/2009 3:23:18 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Tonight, Bert and Jayme Coates will bring their electronic gear to the Central Saloon and go down to its basement to begin hunting for ghosts.
When they pull up in their 1978 Chevy Step Van emblazoned with "Northwest Paranormal Investigation Agency," Bert and Jayme Coates inevitably get friendly greetings from people.
And why not?
A 2008 Harris Poll said 44 percent of Americans believe in ghosts.
That means somebody sitting right near you at the office is a believer, if it's not you.
Friendly greetings are what the Gold Bar couple got Friday afternoon, as they parked in front of Central Saloon (better known by its previous name Central Tavern, before it started serving hard liquor) in Pioneer Square.
Employees at the historic place, established in 1892, say they have experienced supernatural occurrences, and it wasn't by Seahawks fans after a game.
Tonight, the Coateses will bring their electronic gear to the Central and go down to its basement to hunt for ghosts.
On a screen outside the joint, they will project what their camcorders have picked up in the dark using infrared light.
Plenty of ghost stories surround a number of old Pioneer Square buildings.
At the Central, David Lewis does maintenance and is the "barback guy," who restocks all the booze in the mornings. He said he has had his share of ghostly experiences.
The tavern has a stage in the rear, and in the back of the stage is a stained-glass window to the alley.
"In the middle of the day, I watched the stage and saw something go across and block out the sunlight. But there was nobody there," Lewis said.
SNIP
Twenty-five years ago the hit movie "Ghostbusters" popularized tracking down apparitions. The movie still resonates.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Jayme Coates and husband Bert are ghost hunters and founders of Northwest Paranormal Investigation Agency. Their van is filled with tools of the trade such as flashlights, colored lamps to illuminate ghosts and a video camera with a spotlight they say helps brighten infrared imaging.
Bert and Jayme Coates, founders of Northwest Paranormal Investigation Agency, go downstairs Friday to check out the basement of Central Saloon in Pioneer Square.
the world is certifiably mad.
crazy like a fox. Play on peoples fears and beliefs to make a living. Sounds entrepenurial to me, in tough economic times. If they can make a living doing this in this depression, I want them on my marketing team LOL.
Why not hunt for elves and leprechauns while they’re at it? Sheesh...
Did she tell him about the Twinkie?
No, tpo go after them you have to be licensed.
We put up with idiots like these all the time. Practically in our yard, flash photography and horn honking and actually shooting at ghosts too sometimes. It’s unbelievable. The police aren’t able to do much, and there isn’t much that we can do that is legal. Although the ideas fly here at 1 AM when we can’t sleep because of the noise and lights!
Ghost Ping...
I don’t recall the article saying they charged for their services. Unless I missed something.
I don’t know that they do. I would just be stunned if people had the money to invest and do this stuff for free while trying to survive right now is all.
Interesting! Thanks for the ping CurlyBill! I look forward to your articles.
Ghost story time!
In 2003, I lived in an old house in New Orleans. The house had been built sometime in the early 1930’s, it was a shotgun double that I shared with my dad. I had always felt that there was something not right about the house. The house was in a “decent” part of a really bad neighborhood, basically right on the edge of certain blocks that you did not want to be in at anytime of day or night.
I had always feared criminals breaking and entering. I had two large dogs which is just about the best security you can buy for such neighborhoods, but still I feared coming home or waking up to intruders. I had gone to sleep one night, all was normal, nothing occurred during the night. Whenever the sun would come up, light would invade my room and usually wake me up around 6:30 am or so. The same occurred that morning, my room was light by the sun. My eyes opened, and I saw two figures standing next to each other at the foot of my bed.
The figures had on what I would describe as heavy parkas with hoods pulled over their heads. I could not see their faces. I thought oh s**t, there are intruders in my house, and instantly I was wide awake. Being that I am not the type of person to go down without a fight, I sprang from my bed and charged them. I recall throwing a punch at the figure on the right, and then throwing another punch at the figure on the left, and then nothing else.
Some period of time later, I awoke on the floor of the second room of my house. My bedroom was the third room, and it was separated from the second by the bathroom. I remember thinking to myself, “Why am I in this room?” I tried to get up, but I couldn’t, because my legs hurt very badly, so I crawled on my stomach to my bed and went back to sleep having no recollection of the events that I described.
I woke up around 10:00am, and I got out of bed to go and brush my teeth. At this time, I became aware again of pain in my legs, so I looked down at them. There were deep, black, narrow bruises on the insides of my thighs and calves on both legs. I had no idea how they got there. I didn’t think much of them at the time, and proceeded to finish my morning routine and prepared to leave.
As I walked toward the front door, I passed through the second room. I was surprised to notice that an end table that was formerly right next to the headboard of my bed was standing upside down vertically in the middle of the floor. I thought to myself..WTF? So, I went to pick it up. As soon as I touched the wrought iron legs of the table, I instantly remembered the two hooded figures from the night before, I remembered punching them, and I remembered crawling back to my bed with severe pain in my legs, but nothing else.
I asked my dad as well as my other neighbor if they had heard anything odd, and they both said that they heard a tremendous noise at around 7:00 am, but I did not tell them what happened.
The table was a marble top wrought iron legged type that I had received after my grandmother had passed away. There were various nic nacs on the table, such as these odd, little brass camels which were dated from the 1930’s. Some people whom I have told this story to suggest that I was dreaming, and that I picked up the table to use it as a weapon, and then stumbled over it thus bruising myself on the legs.
But I remember differently. When I saw them, I was instantly awake, and I had a massive adrenaline rush from fear. It wasn’t a dream at all. When I charged the figures, the table was then behind me near the headboard of the bed. I would have had to turn around to get it, and due to its weight, it would not have made a suitable weapon for me. What I believe happened is that I saw something while awakening from a sleep state that I wasn’t supposed to see. I theorize that when I hit these figures, they didn’t like it, and they used the table on me.
The bruises on my legs lasted for more than a month, and I still have no recollection of what happened to me from the time I threw my second punch until the time I awoke on the floor of the second room. I have wondered what could happen if I was hypnotized and asked about this event, but I cannot be hypnotized for some reason.
Ghosts exist. This is not the only event that occurred to me in the house in New Orleans. If anyone would like to hear more, just let me know.
Can you pass the s’mores?
Great story! I have one too, but I have to take the time to type it out. How’d you do that so fast?!
hehe *passes* :)
Heh, I don’t know. I have told this story many times since it is one of the strangest things that has ever happened to me, so I am pretty familiar with it.
Then, after I change my underwear, we'll discuss the implications of the experience. 
there you are - been missing you!
Here’s mine:
My husband works for a bank in our town. Their headquarters is across the street in the old county courthouse (built 1871). A co-worker of my husband’s works in the old courthouse. He was the one this happened to.
This man, I’ll call him Rick, was working late. His office is at the end of the hallway. Across from his office is the bank president’s office. Since it was after hours, nobody else was in the building. Rick had to use the bathroom. He opted to use the bathroom in the bank president’s office. (a definite NO NO!). since it was right across from his office.
Having “done his business“, he left the bathroom, to be confronted with a woman dressed in 19th century garb, standing and looking out the window. He hi-tailed it back into the bathroom and cowered there for 15 minutes. Knowing he couldn’t stay in the bathroom all night, Rick opened the door and took off running, covering his face on the side where the lady was.
To this day, his eyes get teary and he gets nervous even talking about it! Only my husband and a few other people at the bank know about this.
good one.
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